Hiking the Appalachian Trail: Part 2 Quiz

Answer: Clingman's Dome

At 6643ft, Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains, but is not on the trail.

Answer: Bear Mountain Zoo

The Appalachian Trail runs right through the Trailside Zoo at Bear Mountain State Park in New York, along the Hudson River. The bear pens are at 124 ft above sea level.

Answer: Yellow Blazer

The Appalachian Trail is marked by rectangles of white paint called "blazes". Side trails are marked with blue paint, so a hiker using alternate routes is known as a Blue Blazer. Hikers who skip sections of the trail by hitching rides are derogatorily known as Yellow Blazers, the yellow blaze representing the center line on the highway.

A Yo-Yo is someone who completes a through-hike and immediately starts hiking back in the opposite direction. A Flip-Flopper is a hiker who starts the trail near the middle, and upon reaching an end goes back to that point and hikes the other direction.

This is usually done to avoid winter conditions in the north.

Answer: 1948

World War II veteran Earl Shaffer of York, Pennsylvania completed the first documented through-hike in 1948. The hike is recounted in his memoir "Walking With Spring".

Answer: Virginia

Virginia has 550 miles of contained trail. It is followed by 281 miles in Maine and 229 miles in Pennsylvania.

Answer: West Virginia

Ironically, it is the state that is home to the Appalachian Trail Conference Headquarters at Harper's Ferry. West Virginia has only four miles of contained trail, not including about twenty miles along the Virginia border.

Answer: 14

The trail goes through Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Answer: Dartmouth

The trail crosses the Connecticut River and continues through the center of Hanover, New Hampshire. The Dartmouth Outing Club maintains the Appalachian Trail from the Vermont border to Kinsman Notch.

Answer: MEGA

When making entries into shelter journals, a northbound through-hiker refers to oneself as a NOBO, headed from Georgia to Maine, or GAME. A south-bounder is a SOBO, headed from Maine to Georgia- MEGA.

Answer: Timothy Bottoms

Lick Log Gap is a North Carolina mountain pass, Chunky Gal is a blue blaze trail, and Charlie's Bunion is rocky outcrop with a spectacular view of The Smoky Mountains. Although it not beyond the realm of possibility, you are unlikely to see veteran character actor Timothy Bottoms on your hike.